Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 10 - Issue 22

This Week In Washington

Early this week, the Department of Education (ED) announced the update of the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Enrollment Reporting Guide. This guide will aid institutions with reporting enrollment information to NSLDS by providing clarity on how to report enrollment status related to new withdrawal exemptions for Title IV funds.

This week the House passed a continuing resolution that will fund the government through December 4. The bill will now go to the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune plans to introduce a short-term stopgap bill to fund the government on the floor before the August recess.

Yesterday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee marked up a series of higher education bills. Among them are two bills that could impact legal and graduate education:

S. 2511 College Transparency Act [Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)] would establish a postsecondary student data system.
S. 4097 State-Based Education Loan Awareness Act [Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)] would exclude state-based education loan programs from certain requirements relating to preferred lender arrangements.

On Thursday, both bills were approved by HELP and will now move to the Senate floor, but no timeline for floor action has been announced.

News You Can Use

In an interview with Inside Higher Ed, Ethan Pollack of Jobs for the Future discussed how outcomes-based financing can help graduate students fund their education. Outcome-based financing is a framework that helps lenders tie potential student loan funding to students’ earnings after graduation rather than their credit history.

PBS News reported that student loan scams are increasing due to current borrower uncertainty and confusion related to student loan repayment.

Recent Legislation

The following bill(s) have been recently introduced for consideration by the 119th Congress (2025-26):

S. 5116 – Merit-Based Educational Reforms and Institutional Transparency Act (MERIT Act) [Sen. Todd Young (R-IN)] would amend HEA to require accreditation standards to assess the institution’s adoption of admissions practices that refrain from preferential treatment in admissions based on applicant’s relationship to alumni, donors, or the institution.